((Old Wounds)) Band Profile and Upcoming SXSW Concerts - Oh My Rockness

Old Wounds are three up-and-coming dudes from New Jersey who... just... I gotta tell you. These guys just slay. And I don't like to say a band "slays" too often - because that's a powerful word right there, and it's use tends to be abused by people who like music ("kills," of course, being the other regular offender). But they really do slay. Old Wounds destroy everything except the melody.

This is pummeling hardcore for people who may not even like pummeling hardcore. (Such people do exist.) Sure. You've got your throaty shrieks and growls - I'm aware that can be a turnoff for people who don't like pummeling hardcore ("Why are they trying to sound like monsters?" they say. "No. YOU'RE the monster," you say).

Sure. You got those drums that sound like Rocky working the speed bag. And people who don't like pummeling hardcore aren't big boxing fans. Wikipedia told me so.

And sure. You have a serious chance of permanently damaging your hearing if you go to an Old Wounds show naked (i.e. without earplugs). People who don't like pummeling hardcore hear perfectly fine...those voices in their head telling them they should've spent their lives risking more.

But ultimately, the question of why this pummeling hardcore may appeal to people who don't even like pummeling hardcore and most of its attributes is a pretty easy one to answer.

To slightly modify the old James Carville working for Bill Clinton quote:

"It's the guitars, stupid."

Published February 12, 2013


